CHICAGO — More people are leaving the Chicago area than any other major city in the United States. According to census data released Thursday, the Chicago area lost more than 6,000 residents in 2015. That now puts the region’s population at 9.5 million. Chicago’s metropolitan statistical area, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the city and suburbs and extends into Wisconsin and Indiana. The Chicago region’s decline extended to the state. In fact, Illinois was one of just seven states to see a population dip in 2015, and had the second-greatest decline rate last year after West Virginia, census...

Elizabeth Grattan is Rush Limbaugh’s girlfriend and she was recently arrested! Grattan, a WGN radio employee has been arrested for a New Year’s day fight with her ex-boyfriend in Chicago. Grattan had a huge blow out with her ex-boyfriend and police were called. According to police reports an irate and ‘highly intoxicated’ Grattan was yelling at the officers saying ‘you can’t put your hands on me’. Grattan allegedly broke in the window of her ex-boyfriends apartment and attempted to climb in. Grattan had cuts on her hands from climbing in the broken window and she apparently resisted arrest when she...

A WGN radio employee was arrested after using her fist to break a window and enter the apartment of an ex-boyfriend during a disturbance early Friday in the Old Town neighborhood, police said. Grattan took to her blog to address the incident after her arrest. She claims she was invited to her ex-boyfriend’s New Year’s Eve party and stayed for awhile until realizing he was in bed with another woman. She allegedly lived in the apartment with him for two months--until recently. She also threw her drink in his face after she saw him with the other woman, Grattan said...

For some reason, I am having trouble finding articles about this, so maybe my recollection is wrong. I recall reading a while back that Obama's attorneys had sent a threatening letter to a radio station that was going to have David Freddoso on to discuss his book on Obama. I thought it was an Orlando station, but maybe it was Chicago. I have information on the Obama's "truth squads" in Missour, but would appreciate if anyone can provide a link to articles about the Freddoso radio appearance. Thanks as always.

Much of Barack Obama's political success can be traced to a database listing contact information for millions of people, a tool that has proved invaluable in raising record sums of money and organizing a national volunteer network. Now Obama's presidential campaign is increasingly using the list to beat back media messages it does not like, calling on supporters to flood radio and television stations when those opposed to him run anti-Obama ads or appear on talk shows. It did so as recently as Monday night, when it orchestrated a massive stream of complaints on the phone lines of Tribune Co.-owned...

Obama tried to silence this interview now you can here it HERE Chicago radio station WGN-AM is again coming under attack from the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama for offering airtime to a controversial author. It is the second time in recent weeks the station has been the target of an "Obama Action Wire" alert to supporters of the Illinois Democrat. Monday night's target was David Freddoso, who the campaign said was scheduled to be on the station from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Chicago time. "The author of the latest anti-Barack hit book is appearing on WGN Radio...

Remember Barack Obama’s attempt to silence TV stations running an independent ad by American Issues Project spotlighting The One’s ties to Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers? (link) And remember the Obama campaign’s attempt to sic the Justice Department on the GOP donor behind the forbidden ad? (link) A source sends the following report on DOJ’s public comments about Obama’s witch hunt. The comments were made September 12 and have not been reported yet by the MSM: Justice Department Enforcement Donsanto Says DOJ Does Not Pursue Criminal Probes of Independent Groups The Justice Department does not pursue criminal investigations of contributors...

<p>Chicago radio station WGN-AM is again coming under attack from the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama for offering airtime to a controversial author. It is the second time in recent weeks the station has been the target of an "Obama Action Wire" alert to supporters of the Illinois Democrat.</p>

It appears Team Obama will stop at nothing to intimidate and harass those who would expose his long and cozy relationship with terrorist William Ayers. As in the '60s, lefties think freedom of speech applies only to them. We have written extensively on the socialist past of Barack Obama as expressed in his proposals and associations, both personal and organizational. One of those associations is between Obama and Ayers, a leader of the Weather Underground, a '60s terrorist group. It's true Obama has condemned and disassociated himself from the terrorist actions of Ayers and the Underground. But Ayers has never...

The Editors of National Review Online have a good editorial summarizing researcher and writer Stanley Kurtz's investigation of the ties between Barack Obama and radical terrorist William Ayers, and the reaction of Obama campaign and its supporters to their critics: ... WGN, has made a stream of the broadcast available online, here, and it has to be heard to be believed. Obama's robotic legions dutifully jammed the station's phone lines and inundated the program with emails, attacking Kurtz personally. Pressed by Rosenberg to specify what inaccuracies Kurtz was guilty of, caller after caller demurred, mulishly railing that "we just want...

Supporters of Barack Obama made thousands of calls and sent thousands of e-mails Wednesday in an organized campaign to intimidate a Chicago radio station – WGN-AM – into canceling the appearance of a conservative writer on one of its long-time popular talk shows. The campaign did not work, according to the talk-show’s producer. “We’ve probably had 4,000 to 5,000 e-mails,” said Zack Christenson, producer of “Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg.” “There’s no way to measure the calls. The only thing I can tell you about the calls is that from about 7:30 p.m. to about midnight that night, the phone...

Even as Barack Obama gave his soaring speech Thursday night, his campaign was playing hardball with its critics. Team Obama has launched an offensive against WGN, the Chicago Tribune's radio station, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is a conservative writer who this week forced the University of Illinois to finally open its records on Sen. Obama's association with William Ayers, the unrepentant 1970s Weather Underground terrorist.

Even as Barack Obama gave his soaring speech Thursday night, his campaign was playing hardball with its critics. Team Obama has launched an offensive against WGN, the Chicago Tribune's radio station, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is a conservative writer who this week forced the University of Illinois to finally open its records on Sen. Obama's association with William Ayers, the unrepentant 1970s Weather Underground terrorist. An Obama campaign email to supporters called Mr. Kurtz a "slimy character assassin" whose "divisive, destructive ranting" should be confronted. WGN producer Zack Christenson says the outpouring of negative calls and emails is...

In today's Chicago Sun-Times, media reporter Robert Feder writes: Anchor's cheering section • • Chicago reporters covering the Democratic Convention in Denver were stunned to witness WGN-Channel 9's Allison Payne cheering and applauding for speakers Wednesday night while she was seated with the Illinois delegation in the Pepsi Center. The veteran newswoman has been co-anchoring convention coverage for the Tribune Co.-owned station. Earlier in the week, Payne was quoted in the Chicago Tribune apologizing to viewers for her bizarre performance on Channel 9's 9 p.m. newscast Aug. 21. "I was not drunk," she said. She attributed her slurred speech and...

Let’s suppose that a public official has something in his past that he would prefer remain there. Something that might make voters wonder whether the rhetoric of today is something that should be believed. Let’s suppose that someone got their hands on documents about the skeleton in the closet, and went on a popular radio show to talk about them. And let’s suppose that instead of a civilized debate about what may have happened years ago, the public official ordered his legions to jam the radio station’s phone lines in an effort to make sure that whatever happened all those...

Stanley Kurtz's appearance on the Milt Rosenberg radio program in Chicago last night provided an unsettling look into the authoritarian tactics being employed by the Obama campaign to stifle and intimidate its critics. I happened to be in the WGN studios for the entire affair because my friend, Zack Christenson, produces the show in question. He was aware of my previous reporting on the Obama-Ayers connection and kindly invited me to sit in on the two-hour interview. (For full disclosure, I work for two other radio stations in Chicago, WIND, and WYLL). As I arrived at the downtown Chicago studios...

Someone needs to introduce Senator Barak Obama to Chinese President Hu JinTao just as soon as possible. I am sure the two would get along just fine. After all, if Mr. Obama is elected President of the United States in November, there is much that he can learn from the Communist Party, especially in the area of censoring free speech...

In the next few hours, we have a crucial opportunity to fight one of the most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack. Tonight, WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears. He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers. Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear-merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse. Call into the "Extension 720" show...

Some interesting happenings on the search for truth front. The indispensable National Review columnist Stanley Kurtz has been doing some much needed digging on the extent of the relationship between Barack Obama and Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers. Well yesterday, Kurtz went on WGN Radio in Chicago to discuss his findings and what sort of trouble he’s run in to, and the Obama campaign let out this incredibly dishonest email...

August 27, 2008, 7:30 a.m. ObamaÂ’s Friend, AmericaÂ’s EnemyBy the Editors Have you ever been a friend or business associate of a terrorist? Not someone who, to your shock and horror, turned out secretly to have bombed government buildings. No, the question is whether youâ€™ve ever befriended an unreconstructed radical whose past was well known to you when you entered his orbit and walked through doors he opened for you. Have you been chummy with an unapologetic terrorist who, years after youâ€™d known and worked closely with him, was still telling the New York Times he regretted only failing...

Stanley Kurtz's appearance on the Milt Rosenberg radio program in Chicago last night provided an unsettling look into the authoritarian tactics being employed by the Obama campaign to stifle and intimidate its critics. I happened to be in the WGN studios for the entire affair because my friend, Zack Christenson, produces the show in question. He was aware of my previous reporting on the Obama-Ayers connection and kindly invited me to sit in on the two-hour interview. (For full disclosure, I work for two other radio stations in Chicago, WIND, and WYLL). As I arrived at the downtown Chicago studios...

Members of Barack Obama’s campaign HQ in Chicago tried to shut down a local radio show on the City's most powerful radio signal, WGN 720, because they didn't like a conservative guest that was on going on the air to discuss Senator Barack Obama's ties to local terrorist William Ayers. This is a shocking attempt at stifling political free speech and a bald attempt to quash debate by the office of the Democratic Party's nominee. The funny thing is, WGN is the most liberal station in the City with every host but one slavishly supporting the junior Senator from Illinois.

While the Obama coronation proceeds apace in Denver, it is in Chicago that Americans are getting a disturbing demonstration of his thuggish methods of stifling criticism. Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Harvard-educated social anthropologist and frequent contributor to National Review, among other publications. He is widely respected for his meticulous research and measured commentary. For months, he has been doing the job the mainstream media refuses to do: examining the background and public record of Barack Obama, the first-term senator Democrats are about to make their nominee for president despite the...

Members of Barack Obama’s campaign HQ in Chicago tried to shut down a local radio show on the City's most powerful radio signal, WGN 720, because they didn't like a conservative guest that was on going on the air to discuss Senator Barack Obama's ties to local terrorist William Ayers. This is a shocking attempt at stifling political free speech and a bald attempt to quash debate by the office of the Democratic Party's nominee. The funny thing is, WGN is the most liberal station in the City with every host but one slavishly supporting the junior Senator from Illinois....

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air. "WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers." Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties to Ayers, a...

DENVER -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air. "WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers." Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties to...

Members of Barack Obama’s campaign HQ in Chicago tried to shut down a local radio show on the City's most powerful radio signal, WGN 720, because they didn't like a conservative guest that was on going on the air to discuss Senator Barack Obama's ties to local terrorist William Ayers. This is a shocking attempt at stifling political free speech and a bald attempt to quash debate by the office of the Democratic Party's nominee. The funny thing is, WGN is the most liberal station in the City with every host but one slavishly supporting the junior Senator from Illinois....

“Slimy.” “Smear merchant.” “Character assassin.” This kind of name-calling tends to undermine an argument against character assassination, especially when the argument comes with no supporting evidence at all. Yet the Barack Obama campaign feels comfortable with this kind of ad hominem attack on Stanley Kurtz as a means to get him silenced: The campaign e-mailed Chicago supporters who had signed up for the Obama Action Wire with detailed instructions including the station’s telephone number and the show’s extension, as well as a research file on Kurtz, which seems to prove that he’s a conservative, which isn’t in dispute. The file...

In a surprising attempt to stifle broadcast criticism of its candidate, the presidential campaign of freshman Illinois senator Barack Obama is organizing supporters to confront Chicago's WGN radio station for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its main evening discussion program. "WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail sent to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. (Wednesday night) pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

The Obama campaign has tonight again demonstrated that it will try to silence voices with which it does not agree. This should chill all Americans, for it offers a preview of the tactics to which a President Obama might harness the power of the federal government. The means chosen include harassment of television stations running the 527 group Ayers ad, a demand for a Justice Department investigation, and just last night, disruption of a radio talk show in Chicago that dared have Dr. Stanley Kurtz of National Review, who has been examining the archives of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, in...

Obama campaign confronts WGN radio by John McCormick and Steve Schmadeke DENVER -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air. "WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers." Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an...

What's it going to take to get talk radio out of this increasingly-dismal ratings slump? The Radio Equalizer is tired of the post-election cycle excuse, since better-programmed stations are falling a bit less, while incompetently-managed outlets are getting creamed. The emerging Spring 2005 figures paint an especially bleak picture that must serve as an urgent industry wake-up call. Spring and fall Arbitron releases are considered the most important for media buyers, a loose parallel to TV's "Sweeps" months.

Newly released Arbitron radio ratings bring some questions to mind, such as: --- Will Air America's apologists finally come up with a fresh batch of excuses, after insisting more time was needed for it to catch on? Isn't that one getting stale? --- Will some of the traditional talk stations, now showing audience declines, make changes soon?

At 11:51PM(Central Time) on Wed night March 26, 2003, an apparent meteorite flash was seen throughout the Midwest. Per WGN Radio AM 720, Chicago, people have seen it in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. I was eastbound on US 24, just east of Eureka, Illinois. A bright white light appeared in the NE sky, at about 60 degrees high in the sky. While falling, shades of orange and yellow were seen with the white flash. It lasted for about 3 seconds before darkening. It did NOT appear to hit the ground from my vantage point. It feel...